Day Kano emir campaigned for maternal, child health and girls-child education in Ajingi

Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II, was recently in Ajingi LGA of Kano State where he sensitised his subjects on the critically-important issues of maternal and child healthcare, women’s rights including girl-child education. ADAM ALQALI reports
The community sensitization outreach which was organized by the Kano Emirate Council Committee on Health (KECCoH) and the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) as part of series of community-focused sensitization campaigns by the Emir in his quest to rid Kano of key challenges confronting especially women and children to do with healthcare, Routine Immunisation, domestic and sexual violence, among others.
While delivering a welcome address at the event, the chairman of the Kano Emirate Council Committee on Health (KECCoH) and District Head of Ajingi, Alhaji Wada Aliyu said the campaign was aimed at sensitizing people on KECCoH’s work on improving maternal health, routine immunization and girl-child education towards achieving sustainable community development in Kano state.
“KECCoH has since inception recorded huge successes to do with sensitization campaigns and capacity building for relevant stakeholders in its work down to the ward level. We have set up the Community Women and Child Survival System (COMWACSS) at the ward level which is bedrock of our work trying to sensitize people on key health issues aimed at sustainable community development,” said Alhaji Wada Aliyu, who is also the Sarkin Yaki of Kano.
“It is helping to improve access to routine immunization which helps bring about healthy children. There is a clear link between girl-child education and maternal and child health, getting more girls into school will help address the deficiency of female health workers in our rural communities. We are grateful to the development partners like UNICEF, WHO, BMGF, dRPC, EU-SIGN, CHAI and MNCH2 for their support.”
While delivering the keynote address, Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II said Allah had made it obligatory for men to take care of their wives and children and also made it obligatory for neighbors to take good care of their neighbors’ children.
“Our children including girls must be given access to western, religious and entrepreneurship education. Maternal and child health challenges are more prevalent among poor and uneducated women. We are also calling on people to shun drug abuse, rape, violence against women and rampant divorces,” the Emir of Kano urged the enthusiastic crowd that gathered to listen to his address at Ajingi.
The event also doubled as the launch of the second phase of the measles immunisation program in Kano state, earlier launched in Gabasawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
“The launch of the second phase of the measles immunization program is an opportunity to protect our children against the disease. We are glad about the successes recorded in the first phase. People should sleep under treated mosquito net and ensure both personal and environmental hygiene. We are grateful to our development partners including dRPC, CHAI, MNCH2, EU-SIGN, WHO and UNICEF for their support towards improving the quality of healthcare delivery in Kano state,” the Emir admonished his subjects at Ajingi.
Emir Sanusi also urged community leaders to ensure CONWASS function effectively within their communities by ensuring proper documentation of maternal and child health issues through the Committee’s monthly report adding that health and education were very critical in achieving sustainable development adding that girl-child education was equally key to achieving better health and education outcomes in Kano state.
While speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Kano State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr Nasir Mahmud, described the health of women and children, who he said constitute about 70% of the population of the state, as very critical to the socioeconomic development of communities. He decried the fact that diseases like measles and TB were killing more and more children in Kano state assuring that Kano state was coming up with plans aimed at addressing the issues working with the Emirate.
While delivering a goodwill message at the event, representative of the Development Research Projects Centre (dRPC), Mallam Ubale Rano thanked the Emir of Kano for the opportunity given to dRPC to partner KECCoH on improving maternal, child health and girl child education in Kano. He added that a research by dRPC on early childhood development had shown that more girls were dropping out of school hence the need for more efforts aimed at ensuring they not only finish secondary school but also pursue higher education.
While also delivering a goodwill message at the sensitization outreach, Dr James Atta of the European Union Support to Immunization Governance in Nigeria (EU-SIGN) programme applauded the Kano Emirate for being a “pioneer in exploiting community structures to address routine immunization and other child health issues. There is a synergy between the traditional institution and Ministry of Health in Kano state; we are trying to replicate it in other states.”
At the end of the event, the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II presented awards to children who have completed receiving routine immunization, girls who have successfully completed health-related courses at tertiary level; mothers who have accessed ANC and were successfully delivered of their children as well as the most punctual village heads in terms of monthly reporting of data in relation to maternal and child health issues.